Lesson 34 | Creating Single Line Text

This lesson describes how to use the Text command to create single line text in your drawings. With Single line text, each line of text or textual object that is created can be edited independently. This distinguishes single line text from multiline text created with the Mtext command, because a single Mtext object can contain multiple lines of text.

Where Mtext is very robust and feature rich, single line text enables you to quickly create and locate small text objects. The most common use for single line text is to place a number or letter inside a circle.

In the following illustration, single line text of varying heights, justification, and rotation angle is used in a title block.

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Describe Single Line text.
• Use the Text command to create single line text. Make single line text associative.

About Single Line Text

Single line text is used for information that is usually a single word, a letter or a short sentence or phrase. The options available to single line text are different than those available with Multiline text and there are fewer formatting options. An example of a typical use for single line text is to center a letter or number in a circle.

If you explode Multiline text, it would be converted to single lines of text. When you type using the single line Text command, pressing ENTER begins a new line of text.

Pressing ENTER twice will exit the Text command.

When you select a single line of text with the Command line blank, only one grip is displayed.

When you select Multiline text, four grips are displayed.

Single Line Text Defined

The Text command creates a single line of text. When you begin the command, you are prompted for a single insertion point for the text location.

Once you pick that point, you are prompted to specify a height and a rotation angle. Other options include Justify and Style which can be initiated by pressing the DOWN ARROW on the keyboard or right-clicking to access the shortcut menu.

Below are some examples of the Justify options.

Creating Single Line Text

You use the Text command to create single line text objects. When you start the Text command, you are first shown the current text style and height. You are then prompted to select a start point for the text, followed by the text height and rotation angle.

While the term single line text is used when referring to the Text command, it does not mean that you can only create a single line of text at a time. To create the next line of text, press ENTER and begin typing the next line. If you press ENTER on a blank line, the command ends. Each line of text you create in this way is a separate object. If you use the Text command to create four lines of text, it results in four separate text objects, each representing a single line of text, and each capable of being edited independently of the others.

You can create single line text objects that are associative. For example, you could link a single line text object representing the drafter's name in a title block to the drawing file's Author property. Then, if a different person took over the drawing and changed the drawing file's Author property to their name, the text would update to the new person's name in the title block.

The text in the following image was created using the Text command. Even though all lines of text were created at the same time, you can select and edit them individually.

Command Access

Command Options

Once you begin the Single Line Text command, you choose justification or style options by pressing the DOWN ARROW on the keyboard or right-clicking anywhere in the drawing to access the shortcut menu.

Justify: Use this option to specify a justification for the text. Once you select Justify, a list of options appears as shown on the right.

Style: Use this option to specify a text style other than the current text style.

Note: It is easier to select the current text style from the Text panel before you start the Text command. Using this option requires you to enter the text style name on the command line.

The following image illustrates the various justification options.

Procedure: Creating Single Line Text

The following steps give an overview of creating single line text.

1. Start the Text command.
2. To set the justification options, right-click anywhere in the drawing. Click Justify and enter a justification option on the command line, or right-click and select the justification on the shortcut menu.
3. Specify a start point for the text.
4. Specify a height and rotation angle.
5. Begin entering the lines of text.
6. Each time you press ENTER, a new line of text and therefore a new text object is created. Press ENTER on a blank line to complete the command.

Single Line Text Guidelines

• When you create single line text, each line is a separate text object.
• Pressing ENTER begins another line of text that is aligned with the previous line of text.
• Picking a point in the drawing window specifies a new location for the next line of text.
• Pressing ENTER twice ends the single line text command.
• Single line text is created in the current text style unless you specify another style when you start the command. It is easiest to chose another text style from the list located in the Text panel before you begin the single line text command.
• When creating single line text, follow the Command line prompts.
• You can specify the text height and rotation angle by picking points in the drawing window.
• To edit single line text, double-click it.
• To change the justification, style, or height of a single line text object, select it and right-click. Select the Properties or Quick properties palette from the shortcut menu.
• You can copy text from another location such as the Command line or Text Window (F2) and paste it into the single line text typing area.
• If you Explode multiline text, it will become single lines of text objects.
• If you type T and press ENTER at the Command line you will begin the Multiline Text command. If you enter text and press ENTER, you will begin the Single Line Text command.
• It is good practice to always place text on its own layer.